Sunday, August 15, 2010

Once upon a time, until roughly 60 years ago, those born to write,lovers of reading, blessed with talent, embarked on this journey of themind in isolation. When in trouble, because that journey is fraught withobstacles and pitfalls, they sought out other writers to share the agonyand the ecstasy, the hopes and the uncertainty, drawing knowledge fromthe giants of the past who had paved the way, searching for hints to wooand conquer that ultimate bride - THE READER. Once the fledgling novelwas hatched it was sought out by or handed over to publishers big orsmall who cared, many had a vision. They took the new-born novel and ranwith it, along a lengthening path into the welcoming readership.

That path was bombed, made impassible. Now those born to write, loversof reading, blessed with talent are processed by those who teach towrite, who dictate the rules of 'how to' and 'when to, and 'what notto'. An art form has turned into an academy. Writes the"huffingtonpost.com: The academy is ruled by 'theorists' who considertheir work superior to the literature they deconstruct, and moreoverthey have no interest in contemporary literature." And to finish thenewborn novel off, again writes "huffingtonpost.com: As for conglomeratepublishing, the decision makers wouldn't know great literature if it hitthem in the face." And last but not least, the coup de grace, samesource "And the mainstream reviewing establishment (which is crumblingby the minute) validates their choices with fatuous accolades,recruiting mediocre writers to blurb (review) them."

Monday, August 9, 2010

Once upon a time, alas by now a long time ago, when Gypsies or to becorrect the Roma people where still allowed to follow the nomadic livesof their choice, there were those afraid of and maligning, rightly orwrongly, strangers who entered their settled lives. But much strongerthan the prejudice against the Roma outsiders, were perceptions offreedom and romanticism they inspired. Great writers depicted theirlives with love and longing: Pushkin, Tolstoy, Dumas, Marquez, and onand on. But as the last of their ancient treks were barred and they werepushed more and more into subhuman poverty and isolation, with theirfreedom they soon lost their romantic sheen, leaving nothing butmisconceptions, lack of empathy, and downright racial hatred. Bycontrast I have never met a person who personally knows the Roma people,and who hates them and/or still harbors these misconceptions.

To reverse the increasingly one-sided negative image of this ancientethnic minority, I feel art is starting to play a dominant role. Fashionshows with beautiful Roma women showing off their colorful and fluidattires, movie and documentary film makers are and have been enteringthe day-to-day of their lives and art. More than fifteen years ago, Istarted research on my novel Dosha, flight of the Russian Gypsies. A lotof my material came from the Russian Gypsy writer Mateo Maximoff, forthe rest I prayed that God give me the power to do justice to theirharmonious and rich culture. When I started, Gypsies in Western Europelived mostly in harmony within the majority that surrounded them. Then Imerely wanted to reveal the reality behind the myth. Now that aneconomic downturn has stirred up renewed and deadly persecutions, I hopemy novel will highlight the inhumanity of their persecutors. Once againhumans are persecuting and killing fellow humans, the very act thatoriginally decided Gypsies to keep moving into the sanctity of nature,and thereby remain outsiders to the human killer fields.